Nothing to Lose

The time has come to contemplate the coming year.  What will it be like?  The short answer is that we are in for a bumpy ride.  If this last year has been difficult, the next promises to be worse.

Barack Obama is not a forgiving man.  He is thin-skinned, embittered, and vindictive.  Having made a mess of his presidency, he realizes that retrieving success is no longer possible.  In any event, because he will only have success on his own terms, this is doubly impossible.

Obama is, therefore, likely to remain himself—only more so.  Cranky, extreme, and isolated, he will continue to push his agenda despite radically altered circumstances.  Obama does not care about his legacy.  He understands it has been trashed.  Hence, with nothing to lose, he cares only about getting even.

First, Barack hates the Republicans.  He has blamed them for his failures since the beginning of his administration.  Although his programs have not worked domestically or internationally, he attributes this to their opposition.  Had they given him what he asked, all would be well.

The president does not understand why his agenda failed.  He cannot conceive of conservative ideas as working better than his own.  As a result, he interprets resistance as personal.  The Republicans are bad people who deserve as much grief as he can give them.

Second, Barack hates Democrats.  His indifference toward them was on display during the last election.  Not only did he not help their efforts, but time and again he said things to make himself look good, irrespective of the consequences for them.

The president’s animus toward this own party should grow as its members detach themselves from him.  Concerned about their own fate, whatever loyalty they had will evaporate.  Accordingly, the policies they adopt are apt to be congruent with whomever is their next candidate for his office.

When some Democrats begin to play ball with Republicans so as not get tagged as belonging to the party of NO, Obama will be yet more alienated.  Given that he doesn’t speak to them now, he will probably do so even less.

Third, Barack hates the United States.  He has never been concerned with our nation’s interests and will not in response to a personal crisis.  Obama assumes that if people have let him down, they deserve whatever horrors await.

Likewise Obama has never been a patriot.  Having spent his formative years abroad, been the son of a disgruntled Kenyan, and grown up as a racial outsider in Hawaii, he does not identify with the country’s mainstream.  Regardless of his later retractions, he meant it when he said America is not exceptional.

And so our president does not really care if our economy suffers.  From his perspective, we are rich enough and do not need to grow richer.  Far more concerned with redistribution than accumulation, he will continue to favor economic schemes that leave us treading water.

Nor does our president care if we are no longer a super-power.  As he sees it, we have been on top too long.  Perhaps Iran, China, and Africa deserve their turn.  So what if Iran gets the nuclear bomb?  So what if China throws its weight around in East Asia?  Who cares if ISIS creates a caliphate, Russia gobbles up the Ukraine, or North Korea eviscerates Sony?

Obama’s chief concern, apart from gratifying his ego, is his distorted version of justice.  He wants to see everyone equal, with himself, of course, a bit more equal.  If this means others have less, so be it.

As a consequence, we can expect to see the president defend Obamacare to the bitter end.  Whatever damage it causes, he will fight to keep it in place.  He will also seek to control energy production.  New, and more Draconian, environmental standards lie ahead no matter how many jobs are lost.

The latest Obama outrage, of course, was his Christmas present to the Castro brothers.  Sadly, more is to come.

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University